


Regress

by Pixxyofice



Series: Regrow - A Persona 4 Arcana Swap AU [11]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: 'i have made this cat retain memories of another timeline', 'you ruined a perfectly good souji is what you did. look at him. he's got anxiety.', Alternate Universe - Arcana Swap (Persona Series), Gen, New Game Plus, With a twist!, saki wonders what the hell souji expected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28540410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixxyofice/pseuds/Pixxyofice
Summary: He thought it was impossible for someone with a Persona to develop a Shadow.
Series: Regrow - A Persona 4 Arcana Swap AU [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935223
Comments: 19
Kudos: 16





	Regress

Purrci should've known when he woke up feeling so hauntingly empty.

He tried to shrug off the feeling, padding back towards the central tv station. As he climbed across the metal beams, the feeling of being alone in here started to settle again, so he brushed it off. There was a strange aching feeling when he did, but he ignored that, as well.

He should've _ known _ .

Purrci sat in front of the TV screens he summoned for traveling back and forth between the TV World and Junes. He curled his tail around his bottom paws, watching as customers occasionally walked by the screen.

He thought over the timeline. Rise was rescued early, sure, but the next one was... Nanako, wasn't it? Or her equivalent, Youko? From what he heard, the Mitsuo incident hadn't happened, which could speed things up a bit on Adachi's front instead of worrying about Mitsuo...

Either way, something was going to happen. He made sure to tell the team to check the midnight channel, and they were probably searching for clues on how to stop their collective little sister from being kidnapped. Or someone else.

His ears twitched as he noticed the group line up in front of the TV. They looked... panicked. But why were they coming to him?

They spilled into the TV World, the group chattering anxiously among themselves. Saki and Teddie pulled him over close to where the Velvet Room used to be, and their faces did nothing to bring understanding to Purrci's confusion on the situation.

Saki placed a hand on Purrci's shoulder, taking a deep breath.

Why was she irritated?

"Souji," She whispered, and Purrci stopped at the sound of the name he hadn't heard since... was it when he saved Saki? Saki squeezed a bit tighter on his shoulder, her brows furrowing and some of her teeth showing with her growled whisper. "Last night, we saw your shadow on the Midnight Channel."

If Purrci still had a heart, it would've stopped. 

Instead, his whole body tensed, ears and tail pointing straight up. "What?" He hissed back, gray eyes darting to Teddie, who looked... worried. "No, that— that can't be possible, I have a Persona..." He shook his head, reaching up a paw and pushing Saki's hand off his shoulder. "I can't gain a shadow, see, my Persona is..."

Purrci stopped to try and summon his Persona.

That empty feeling— that haunting, empty feeling— struck him. The part of his soul, the part that housed Izanagi, the part usually full with life, his desire for seeking out truth...

It... was gone.

Saki rose an eyebrow. "Your persona is...?" Saki crossed her arms, looking above Purrci, then back down to him again. "...I don't see Izanagi."

"He's—" His words choked in his throat. "He's gone."

"He's your Shadow now, Sensei." Teddie mumbled, looking like he was going to be on the verge of tears. "We saw him last night."

"...What..." Purrci had to deal with this. He had to know. "...What did you see?"

Saki and Teddie looked at each other, silently deciding between them who would describe his Midnight Channel.

Purrci lifted his nose into the air slightly, and tried to sense.

The sense of his shadow immediately burst out at him, sliding into the emptiness like it knew it was once housed there. He knew exactly where his Shadow was and what direction to go to get there.

"Hey, uh," Rise called out, and the three of them looked over to the rest of the team. The team was looking at them, various degrees of panic and worry spread between them. Yosuke seemed to be watching them, apprehensive. Rise cleared her throat. "Can... can Purrci even sense where the new dungeon is?"

"We're figuring that out," Saki said, before Purrci could respond that he did. "Could you give us a few seconds?"

Rise nodded, worry still on her face as she turned back to the group, and the idle chatter began once again.

Saki looked back to Purrci, her eyebrows pushing together as she thought.

After a few more moments of idle chatter, Saki began, "Your shadow basically told everyone your name, Souji Seta, and said that we'll be learning about you via..." Saki did air quotes, "' _ An exclusive behind the scenes look' _ at your life... which, judging by your Shadow saying he'd cover events that had happened and talk about people important to you..."

Purrci felt like a rock had been dropped in his stomach.

"Did..." Purrci didn't like where this was going. "Did my Shadow mention anything about... my partner?"

Teddie immediately nodded, still tense. "Sensei, he didn't say any names, but he talked directly about... talking about your  _ partner _ !" He let his arms explode outward. "Beary rude, and  _ beary _ worrying!"

He was dreading this.  _ He was dreading this. _

"I..." Purrci had to... He gulped, then looked up to Saki. "... I know where the dungeon is. I didn't really have to search for it."

"Wait, you do?!" Saki and Teddie exclaimed, and the team's idle chatter stopped and looked over.

Purrci nodded, trying not to tremble as he walked to an open space. "It... called out to me." He explained, to the team as a whole. Relief seemed to mix into their eyes, along with what seemed to be dread. Not the deep, frightening dread of knowing everything you were trying to hide was coming out, but the usual dread of going to a new dungeon and finding out how it worked. "Follow me."

He walked towards the strong scent of his dungeon. Footsteps sounded behind him.

The closer they got, the more he wanted to run away, be at the back, but he was the only one who could guide them here. He was the only one who could...

He stopped as the dungeon came into view.

Yukiko made a strangled noise. Chie gasped.

Kanji asked, "Why does this Souji Seta person have Yukiko-san's house for a dungeon?"

_ He was not looking forward to this. _

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! Your Unhealthy Coping Evolved Into a Shadow!


End file.
